I have attached a file I made in Fractal Extreme to serve as a CPU benchmarking test. Just open the file in Fractal Extreme 64-bits and let your computer have a go. Post your results as well as your CPU model, number of cores, and clock speed. You can view the render time by clicking on View -> Status tab.
The zoom depth is 782.75 and the precision is 832 bits. The image produced is 400x400 pixels, and it should look like a smaller version of this render:
http://stardust4ever.deviantart.com/art/XX-Reactor-Core-Deep-Zoom-131573460stardust4ever's PC benchmarks:
Desktop system, Fractal Extreme 64-bit, v2.20
Old: AMD Phenom II x4 955 (4 cores, 3.2Ghz) =
4:55Upgraded: AMD FX-8150 (8 cores, O.C. @4.2Ghz) =
2:482006 Laptop: Windows XP, Fractal Extreme 32-bit, v2.20
Intel Core Duo Processor, 32-bit (2.0Ghz, 2 cores) =
1:43:01 (1 hour 43 min, yikes!)
For the record, my old Laptop which I still use at school, is about 37 times slower than the desktop system I am using at home to render fractals, granted comparing Fractal Extreme 32 bits to the 64 bit version is like apples to oranges. You get the idea.
Dinkydau's PC:
Intel q6700 (4 cores, 4 threads @2.66Ghz) =
7:35Amazing that the benchmarks that have been posted across the Internet claim that the Sandy Bridge consistently outperforms the FX-8150 despite having half as many cores, but look at the difference the FX-8150 made in Fractal Extreme's benchmark test (or even my old 2009 quad core Phenom II for that matter)...EDIT: Dinkydau informed me there was a mistake. His processor is an Intel q6700, NOT a Sandy Bridge 2600K. He claims the Sandy Bridge processor was owned by a friend and is 1.7 times faster than his, but still slightly slower than my overclocked FX-8150.Anyway, please feel free to download the file and post your times. You should be using Fractal Extreme 64-bit, v2.20, unless your operating system doesn't support 64 bits. It should also work on the trial version of the software as well, but you won't be able to zoom in or explore beyond 99 zooms. Please report which version of Fractal Extreme you use, and your processor model, number of cores, and clock speed.
UPDATE: Since rendering the original benchmark file, I have updated the BIOS on my Gigabyte GA-990FXA UD3 motherboard from F5 to F6f. The BIOS update included an option to disable APM (Advance Power Management), which prevents the CPU from intermittently throttling itself down to a lower clock speed when the TDP (Thermal Design Power) is exceeded. At the same clock speed, 4.2Ghz, my little benchmark test now renders the same fractal in 2:41.0, an improvement of 7 seconds over the previous time.
FX-8150 @4.2Ghz (APM disabled) -
2:41Bruce Dawson, creator of Fractal Extreme, has created a Benchmark test to measure deep-zoom performance on 64-bit CPUs:
ftp://ftp.cygnus-software.com/pub/InfprecPerf.exeFeel free to use this bench test on your system and report the results to Bruce, which measures the deep-zoom performance in Gblocks.